Appalachian Mountain Dreams

The False Hope of Biofuels

I know we are all holding out great hopes for biofuels, but these nagging pieces keep showing up in the papers… The False Hope of Biofuels: “Biofuels such as ethanol made from corn, sugar cane, switchgrass and other crops are being touted as a ‘green’ solution for a large part of America’s transportation problem. Auto manufacturers, Midwest corn farmers and

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The Blog of Henry David Thoreau

The Blog of Henry David Thoreau: Thursday, June 22, 2006Thoreau’s Journal: 22-Jun-1851As I walk the railroad causeway, I notice that the fields and meadows have acquired various tinges as the season advances, the sun gradually using all his paints. There is the rosaceous evening red tinge of red clover,—like an evening sky gone down under the grass,—the whiteweed tinge, the

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‘Organic’ Loses Its Freshness

‘Organic’ Loses Its Freshness: Until recently, organic practices were sneered at by those in academia, in government and in chemical agribusiness — now called ‘conventional agriculture.’ Thanks to a fast-growing demand for organic food, the sneers are now reserved for those who practice organics on a small scale. Long accustomed to being marginalized, unsubsidized and told to ‘get big or

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Pandemic

Latest measles case brings total to 14 – The Boston Globe: “June 21, 2006 The Massachusetts Department of Public Health confirmed another case of measles yesterday, bringing the total to 14 since early May. The patient, a woman in her early 20s, has recovered from the disease and is back at work at Hill Holiday, a communications company in the

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Home and Heart

Reading Fred First is like conversing with myself. He manages to say things in a much more articulate and beautiful way than I probably would. Take the following excerpt: Home and the Heart Why is there ‘no place like home’? Because I am away from home, I am wondering just what it means to feel ‘at home’. I deeply love

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